The present invention relates to a dicing apparatus; and, more particularly, to a dicing apparatus for dicing a workpiece such as a ceramic multilayer or a semiconductor wafer.
There is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 60-214911 an apparatus for dicing a semiconductor wafer or an integrated circuit wafer into numerous individual chips.
The dicing apparatus is provided with a first position where wafers supplied are aligned, a second position where the aligned wafers are loaded on a table before being diced, a third position where the diced wafers are washed, a fourth position where the washed wafers are stored, and a dicing tool in a dicing station for cutting the wafers on the table into individual chips, the dicing station being spaced apart from the second position. The first through fourth positions are located at four corners of a square, respectively. A cross-shaped rotating arm having a rotating shaft at a center of the square moves the wafers between the positions next to one another. Four lead portions of the cross-shaped rotating arm are, respectively, provided with suction heads for maintaining the wafer on each thereof.
In the dicing apparatus, however, the wafers can be only moved sequentially between the positions, i.e., they can be moved only from the first position to the second position, from the second position to the third position, and from the third position to the fourth position. In other words, the wafer can not moved from the fourth position to the first position. Accordingly, even in a situation where the maximum number of the wafers are being moved, only three suction heads are utilized rather than all four suction heads, thereby making one of the four heads and one of the rotating arms unnecessary. The presence of one unnecessary suction head and rotating arm in the prior art dicing apparatus unnecessarily complicates the configuration and increases the manufacturing and the maintenance cost thereof.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a dicing apparatus which is structurally simple, and less expensive to manufacture but has a comparable efficiency with the prior art dicing apparatus.
The above and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a dicing apparatus comprising: a first position for feeding a workpiece before dicing; a movable machining table capable of retaining the workpiece; a second position for mounting the workpiece before dicing on the machining table; a third position for washing diced workpieces; a fourth position for retaining the diced workpieces; a dicing mechanism provided at a dicing range spaced apart from the second position, for dicing the workpiece; and a transferring mechanism for transferring the workpiece from the first position to the second position, from the second position to the third position, from the third position to fourth position, respectively, wherein the first to the fourth positions are disposed so as to be circumferentially, equally spaced apart from each other by 90 degrees, and the workpiece transferring mechanism has three rotating arms which in conjunction with each other, form a substantial xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d shape, and at its central portion a shaft for pivoting the rotating arms, each of the rotating arms being provided with a suction head for holding the workpiece.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a dicing apparatus comprises a machining table capable of retaining workpieces; a dicing mechanism for dicing a workpiece on the machining table; a coolant feeder for feeding a coolant to a working place; at least one discharging member provided at the machining table, for discharging the coolant together with machining remnants, the discharging member having a discharging port; and an eliminator for moving the machining remnants remaining at bottom of the discharging member toward the discharging port of the discharging member. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a dicing apparatus comprises a machining table capable of retaining workpieces; a dicing mechanism for dicing a workpiece on the machining table; a camera for detecting a position of the workpiece by imaging the workpiece on the machining table; and a coolant feeder for feeding a coolant to a working place, wherein the camera is provided with a cylindrical lens hood having an opening and at its circumference an intake port, the intake port being connected to an air feeding source for feeding an air from the intake port to an interior of the lens hood and ejecting the air from the opening of the lens hood to outside.